Iron Composer Alumni

Tawnie Olson (2015, Winner) has won awards from the SOCAN foundation and the Guelph Chamber Choir/Musica Viva. Her work has been performed by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Land’s End Ensemble, the Trinity Church Choir in NY, and the Toronto Chamber Choir. Her works have been recorded by various artists, including the Canadian Chamber Choir, bassoonist Rachael Elliott, and oboist Catherine Lee.

Jason Thorpe Buchanan (2014, Winner) is a Ph.D. candidate at the Eastman School of Music and was selected as Artist in Residence, Bergen (Norway) by USF Verftet and the City Council of Bergen. He is the founder of Melos Music and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Hamburg (Germany).

Jakub Polaczyk (2013, Winner), a native of Krakow, studied orchestration there with Krzysztof Penderecki. Most recently, he received an Artists Diploma from Carnegie Mellon where he performed as a pianist in the contemporary ensemble.

David Carter (2012, Winner) holds degrees from Yale University (B.A. English Literature, 1996) and the University of Southern California Law School (J.D., 1999), and worked as an attorney for four years before turning to music full-time in 2004. David is a doctoral student in music composition at Northwestern University.

Zvonimir Nagy (2011, Winner) was educated at the Academy of Music of the University of Zagreb, Conservatoire de Paris “Jacques Ibert”, École Normale de Musique de Paris, Texas Christian University, completing his doctoral studies in music at Northwestern University. He is Assistant Professor of Musicianship Studies at Duquesne University

Natalie Williams (2010, Winner) is an Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Theory, at the University of Georgia. A native of Australia, Natalie’s music has been performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Ars Musica Australis, the Terminus Ensemble, the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, and Plathner’s Eleven Ensemble.

Sunny Knable (2009, Winner) earned degrees from Cal State Sacramento and Queens College. He is an active pianist in New York City. His winning composition for Iron Composer was recorded for a CD released on Centaur Records.

Hermes Camacho (2008, Winner) is a native of northern Californian who currently lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Jaclyn. He teaches at the Austin Chamber Music Center and annually at the Sacramento Youth Symphony Chamber Music Workshop.

Luke Furman (2007, Winner) studied composition under Lance Hulme, Marvin Lamb, and Konstantinos Karathanasis at the University of Oklahoma. He won the original Iron Composer competition with his piece Propeller Z.

FINALISTS

Can Bilir (2013, 2nd Prize) is a composer and guitarist currently enrolled in doctoral studies at Bilkent University in Turkey. He was recently selected as a composer for the European Broadcasting festival “MusMa V”.

Colin Breen (2007) competed as an undergraduate student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. His entry in the competition was Meet George.

Kirsten Broberg (2015, 5th Prize) is an associate professor of composition at the University of North Texas. Her work has been performed by the Kronos Quartet, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and ICE. Her work has been supported by awards from the Fromm Music Foundation and American Composers Forum. Kirsten is also a seasoned entrepreneur, having founded and directed Ensemble Dal Niente (2004–2010) and Ensemble 61.

Michelle McQuade Dewhirst (2014, 2nd Prize & Audience Favorite Award) serves as Associate Professor of Music at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She is an active horn player and a founder of a very small consortium, an ensemble devoted to music that lasts one minute or less or that consist of one hundred or fewer notes. Her music has been performed by St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Pacifica String Quartet, and eighth blackbird.

Mark Diischer (2007, 2nd Prize) competed as a graduate student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He now lives in Minneapolis as a freelance musician.

Melody Eötvös (2011, 2nd Prize) is an Australian composer earning her doctorate at Indiana University. Much of her music is electroacoustic, and her work has been performed by the London Sinfonietta and the BBC Singers. She earned her masters degree from the Royal Academy of Music.

Devin Farney (2009) is a musician based out of San Francisco. He is an internationally performed composer/songwriter and a pianist versed in classical, jazz, and popular styles. Since receiving his degree three years ago, Devin has been an active member of the music community.

David Kirkland Garner (2011, 3rd prize) is the director of the Duke New Music Ensemble, where he is also a Ph.D. candidate. His research interests include the banjo and fiddle traditions of Nova Scotia and the southern U.S. The Kronos Quartet gave the world premiere of his most recent work earlier this year.

Anne Goldberg (2012, 5th Prize) is the founder and artistic director of the Synthesis Aesthetics Project, a collaborative between musicians, dancers, multimedia and spoken word artists. In addition to Synthesis, Ms. Goldberg co-founded the new music ensemble Tempus Continuum Ensemble, and is a member of the Reform@ trio, premiering and performing both her own music and that of other 20th and 21st Century composers.

Anthony Green (2010, 3rd Prize) has received commissions and performances by ALEA III (Gunther Schuller, conductor), the Zukovsky String Quartet (for a performance at Symphony Space in New York City), the Playground Ensemble in Colorado, the Ansae Ensemble in Canada, the Ossia New Music Ensemble (as the winner of their 2nd International Composition Prize), and Alarm Will Sound, among others.

Yotam Haber (2010) resides in New York City and is a 2005 Guggenheim Fellow. He is the artistic director of the MATA Festival. His other fellowships and residencies include the MacDowell Colony, Bellagio Rockefeller Foundation, Bogliasco and IRCAM.

Matthew Heap (2011) received his BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, MMus from the Royal College of Music in London, and his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Matthew is also a member of Alia Musica Pittsburgh, an ensemble dedicated to the performance of new concert music from Pittsburgh composers.

Julie Hill (2012, 3rd Prize) enjoyed a short career as an actress and a singer of popular genres, before finding concert music. During this time, she toured the country as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and returned to New York to perform her original music at numerous venues in the East Village, Lower East Side, and Brooklyn.

Dorothy Hindman (2015, 2nd Prize & Audience Favorite Award) is an assistant professor of composition at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. She has collaborated with percussionist Evelyn Glennie, bassist Robert Black, the Goliard Ensemble, the Gregg Smith Singers, and the Freon Ensemble. She hosts a weekly radio show on WVUM 90.5 FM, and she recently spoke at a conference in Sicily about the religious implications in spectral music.

Marie Incontrera (2010) is a wayward pianist and heavy metal ballerina who writes music in Brooklyn, New York. She has been a recipient of the Miriam Gideon Composition Award for women composers, a winner of the Remarkable Theater Brigade Art Song Competition, a 2010 and 2011 recipient of the ASCAPlus award, a winner of the 2011 Vocalessence/American Composers Forum “Essentially Choral” readings.

Andrew Jamieson (2009, 3rd Prize) competed as a senior at Northwestern University. He earned his masters degree from Mills College, and he currently serves as music director for New Spirit Community Church in Berkeley.

Jennifer Jolley (2013, 4th Prize) teaches composition, music theory, and electronic music at Ohio Wesleyan University. Jennifer is the co-founder and artistic director of North American New Opera Workshop (N.A.N.O.Works), a new chamber opera company devoted to developing and staging short contemporary operas by emerging North American composers.

David Von Kampen (2007, 3rd Prize) is a DMA candidate in music composition and a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Kansas. He previously studied at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has been commissioned by the Vancouver Chamber Choir.

Ryan Keebaugh (2015, 4th Prize) is an assistant professor of music at Eastern Mennonite University. His music has been performed by the Ethos Collective, Sesquisharp Productions, the Great Noise Ensemble. He has earned residencies and awards from Wildacres Artist Colony, Factory 449 Theatre Collective, ASCAP, and the Virginia Music Educators Association.

George Lam (2008) studied composition at Duke University, the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and Boston University. He is a founding co-artistic director of Rhymes With Opera, a new opera company dedicated to bringing new works of music-theater into unconventional spaces.

Elizabeth Lim (2008, 2nd Prize and Audience Favorite Award) studied at Harvard and is a doctoral candidate at the Juilliard School. Her orchestral work, “Paranoia,” was a winner of the annual composers’ competition and was premiered by Jeff Milarsky and the Juilliard Orchestra in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Concert Hall.

Caroline Mallonée (2012, 2nd Prize) holds a Ph.D. from Duke University, a Master’s degree from the Yale School of Music and a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. A Fulbright award recipient, she spent a year in The Netherlands studying with Dutch composer Louis Andriessen.

Marcus Karl Maroney (2010, 2nd Prize) is an Associate Professor of Composition at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. He has been commissioned by 8th blackbird and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He is on the Artistic Board of Musiqa, Houston’s composer-led new music presenting group.

Charles Mason (2014, 4th Prize) is a professor of composition and chair of the composition department at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. He has been awarded the Rome Prize, the National Endowment of the Arts Individual Artist Award, the American Composer Orchestra’s “Playing It Unsafe” award, and the Delius Prize. His work has been commissioned by American Composers Orchestra, Ritz Chamber Players, DUO 46, and the Miami String Quartet. His music is featured on releases by Innova Recordings, Quindecim Recordings, and Capstone Recordings.

Rica Narimoto (2015, 3rd Prize) is a lecturer at Aichi University of the Arts, Kanazawa University and Kinjo Gakuin University, and a researcher in Nagoya City University School of Design and Architecture. She has won the Kuwabara and the Irino Prize. Her works have been featured at Gaudeamus Music Week, the Alexandrina Contemporary Music Biennale, and at the International Festival of Modern Art’s 2D2N.

Polina Nazaykinskaya (2014, 5th Prize) is a violinist and composer from Togliatti, Russia. She is currently a doctoral student at City University of New York. Her music has been performed by the Russian National Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Yale Symphony Orchestra, Omsk Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Olaf Philharmonia, and Boston Metro Opera.

Mark Popeney (2012, 4th Place) holds a D.M.A. from the University of Southern California, an Masters from UCLA, and a Bachelor’s from UC Berkeley. He teaches music theory, composition, and music production at USC and secondary schools around Los Angeles. Mark is an avid singer and guitarist, and has performed with and led numerous ensembles in many styles.

Gene Pritsker (2014, 3rd Prize) is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation; an eclectic hip hop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc. ensemble who have released cd’s on Col-legno, Composers Concordance and Innova Records. His music has been performed by Adelaide Symphony, Brooklyn, Shanghai and Berlin Philharmonic, as well as Anne Akiko Meyers, and Simone Dinnerstein. His film credits include orchestration for Cloud Atlas.

John Rot (2009) competed as a sophomore composition major from Oberlin College. He has appeared as piano soloist with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, as well as in the 2006 Aberdeen International Youth Festival Gala Concert. His works have been performed by the JACK Quartet, Talea Ensemble, Kaia Quartet, Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, and a number of soloists across the country specializing in the performance of new music.

Christoffer Schunk (2013, 5th Prize) is an active multi-instrumentalist and composer based in southern California. His compositions have been premiered by New Century Players, Santa Clarita Master Chorale, Ensemble for Contemporary Music, and UC Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra.

Greg Simon (2008, 3rd prize) is currently on the faculty of the Metropolitan State College of Denver, and in the fall of 2012 will begin study as a doctoral student at the University of Michigan. His work is featured on recordings by the California State University, Fullerton Wind Ensemble and the Fifth House Ensemble of Chicago.

Mari Takano (2011) is a Japanese composer living in Tokyo and lecturing at Toho Junior College of Music. Having studied with Morton Feldman and Brian Ferneyhough, one of her primary mentors was Gyorgy Ligeti. Her music has been released commercially by BIS.

Joseph Trapanese (2008) is a Los Angeles based composer, arranger, orchestrator and producer of music for film, television, multimedia, theater and concerts. He has worked with Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park and Daft Punk. Currently, he is composing the music for Disney XD’s animated series Tron: Uprising.

Timothy Vallier (2007) is a composer, media specialist, vocalist and technology enthusiast. After earning degrees at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, he began his doctoral studies at SUNY Stony Brook.

David Wolfson (2013, 3rd Prize) is a composer, music director, arranger, pianist and copyist. He has had an active career in theatrical music, stretching from his days as assistant musical director at the Cleveland Play House to his work with broad variety of dance and theater projects in New York City.

PERFORMERS

Analog Arts has performed everything from Samuel Beckett’s short plays to Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les fêtes d’Hébé. Their repertoire includes major works like Antheil’s Ballet Mécanique, Brecht’s Water-Yam, as well as interactive music for kites, an automobile duet, and noise sculptures. Analog Arts has also been a champion of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s music, specializing in overcoming the production challenges presented by his work.

Over the years of presenting Iron Composer, Analog Arts has fielded an eclectic roster of musicians to suit each year’s customized challenge:

Monument Piano Trio (2008) consists of Dariusz Skoraczewski (cello), Igor Yuzefovich (violin), and Michael Sheppard (piano). They performed for Iron Composer as part of their residency at ARTSaha!. Monument Trio is based in Baltimore, where its members perform with the Baltimore Symphony. Their debut CD was released by ANALOG arts in 2012.

* Indicates a musician served as the Performer Judge.

JUDGESThe Iron Composer judging panel always includes a composer, and one of the performers. The third judge is usually a generalist who can serve as a proxy for the audience.

Composer Judges

Margaret Brouwer (2012) has received an Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and letters in 2006, was named a Guggenheim Fellow for 2004. Her music has earned singular praise for its lyricism, musical imagery, and emotional power. Recordings of her work have been released by Naxos, New World, CRI, Crystal, Centaur, and Opus One. Her residencies include the MacDowell Colony where she has been a Norton Stevens Fellow and Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center

Loris Chobanian (2010) is the Emeritus Professor of Composition and Guitar as well as Composer-in-Residence at Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory. He was born to Armenian parents in the Middle East. Chobanian performed the Classical Guitar regularly on Baghdad TV In the 1950s. He came to the US in 1960.

William Dougherty (2007) is the Ellis and Nelle Levitt Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Drake University. His orchestral and band works are published by MMB Publishers and much of his solo and chamber music is published by Heilman Music. He received his bachelor’s degree in music education from Illinois Wesleyan University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in music theory from The Ohio State University.

Keith Fitch (2009) currently holds the Vincent K. and Edith H. Smith Chair in Composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he also directs the CIM New Music Ensemble. His works have been performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan by such ensembles as The Philadelphia Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony.

David Gompper (2008) is Professor of Composition and Director of the Center for New Music at the University of Iowa. He has been a Fulbright Scholar and earned an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Stephen Hartke (2015) is the chair of composition at Oberlin College Conservatory. His prizes include the Rome Prize from the American Academy, two Koussevitzky Music Foundation Commission Grants, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has been commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Glimmerglass Opera, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and Harvard Musical Association. He won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2013.

Josh Levine (2013) currently serves as Assistant Professor of Composition at Oberlin. His music has been commissioned and performed internationally by prominent new music soloists and ensembles, including Magnus Andersson, Aiyun Huang, Marcus Weiss, Jürg Wyttenbach, the Arnold-Huang-Rosenkranz trio, Calliope Duo, Ensemble Contrechamps, Les Solistes de l’Ensemble Intercontemporain, and the Ensemble Intercontemporain under David Robertson.

Jeffrey Quick (2011) is an active composer and performer in the Cleveland area. He works in the music library at Case Western Reserve University and has been an active member and officer in the Cleveland Composers Guild.

Andrew Rindfleisch (2014) is the recipient of the Rome Prize, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the Aaron Copland Award, and the Koussevitzky Foundation Fellowship from the Library of Congress. He has founded several contemporary music ensembles and currently heads the Cleveland Contemporary Players Artist in Residency Series at Cleveland State University, and the Vertigo Ensemble at the Utah Arts Festival in Salt Lake City.

Performer Judges

Alan DeMattia (2013) joined the horn section of The Cleveland Orchestra in 1984, after serving as principal horn of the Canton (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra and principal horn of the Ohio Chamber Orchestra. Mr. DeMattia is currently on the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Scott Dixon (2014) joined the bass section of the Cleveland Orchestra in 2007. He teaches at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. In 2011, he served as a member of the faculty of the Domaine Forget summer bass workshop. Mr. Dixon also performs with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), including recent concerts at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center.

Mary Dobrea-Grindahl (2009) is Professor of Piano at Baldwin Wallace University where her responsibilities include teaching private piano, piano pedagogy, Eurhythmics, and solfège. She holds the Diplôme Supérieur from the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva, and co-authored Developing Musicianship Through Aural Skills: A Holistic Approach to Sight Singing and Ear Training (Routledge, 2010).

Ken Heinlein (2012) is Principal Tuba with the Akron Symphony Orchestra. Ken has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Blossom Festival Orchestra, the Blossom Festival Band, the Midland (MI) Symphony Orchestra, the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra, among others.

John Klinghammer (2007) currently holds the position of Assistant Principal/Eb clarinet with the Omaha Symphony. Before arriving in Omaha, he served a one-year stint as 2nd/Bass clarinet with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. He has also been principal clarinet of the Des Moines Symphony, and a member of the National Repertory Orchestra.

Kathryn Montoya (2015) is an assistant professor of recorder and Baroque oboe at the Oberlin Conservatory. Montoya has performed with many ensembles, including the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Ensemble Arion, the Cleveland Orchestra, Tafelmusik, Chicago Opera Theatre, Aradia Ensemble, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, Apollo’s Fire, Montreal, Washington Bach Consort, and Wiener Akadamie. She is a recipient of the prestigious Performers Certificate at IU and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Germany.

Jonathan Moyer (2011) served as the first solo performer in Iron Composer history. He performed on the Austin organ in Gamble Auditorium and judged the competition. He is the music director and organist of the Church of the Covenant in Cleveland, as well as the early music vocal ensemble Quire Cleveland.

Regina Mushabac (2010) is professor of cello at the Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music. She was trained by some of the most distinguished cellists of the era. She studied at Juilliard with Leonard Rose for six years and continued with Janos Starker at Indiana University and became his teaching assistant. In addition to the complete standard repertoire, Mushabac is well known for her exploration into new music. She has performed dozens of world premieres and can be heard in solo recordings on GM Recording Label, Trumedia Records, and New World Records.

Generalist Judges

James Arey (2008) is a composer and former music director of KVNO 90.7 FM, Omaha’s classical music station. He is the only Iron Composer judge to have been a 5-day champion on Jeopardy! with total winnings of $42,802.

Gina Cirino joined the Cleveland Council on World Affairs staff in 2008. At the CCWA, she worked with National Programming Agencies and the U.S. Dept. of State to develop long-term programs for delegations from all over the world on topics ranging from Rule of Law and Politics to Foreign Affairs and Media.

James DeRosa (2012) is a Commissioner of Real Estate for the City of Cleveland. He is also an Emeritus Director for Cleveland’s Ingenuity Festival.

Bob Fischbach (2008) is a columnist and movie critic for the Omaha World-Herald.

Bernard Molyneux (2010) is an associate professor of philosophy at UC Davis. He specializes in cognitive science. His publications include Aspects of Consciousness Explained, “Why Experience Taught me Nothing about Transparency,” and “Intuitions are Inclinations to Believe”.

Bill O’Connell (2009) is the program director for WCLV 104.9 FM, the broadcast partner of Iron Composer. He is also the afternoon drive host on the station.

Dee Perry (2015) has been a part of the Cleveland broadcasting scene since 1976. Dee’s hobbies and interests include photography , motivational speaking, singing, and acting. She has appeared in several productions at PlayhouseSquare theaters, as well as Tri-C, CSU, Karamu, and Ensemble Theater. 90.3 WCPN has been Dee Perry’s radio home since 1989, and she has performed in several different capacities for this public radio station. She is currently the host and producer of 90.3’s hour-long daily magazine talk show, The Sound of Applause, which focuses on visual and performing arts, cultural trends, and current events. Dee also serves as host and producer for Applause, WVIZ/PBS’ half-hour weekly television series which is also devoted to arts and culture.

Susan van Vorst (2013) was appointed as the director of the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory last year. Susan has worked at Stan Hywett and the Cleveland Orchestra before she returned to BW to helm the Conservatory. Unlike most of the judges who sit in the third chair at Iron Composer, Susan has a very high level of musical training, with an undergraduate degree in piano performance from Kent State.

Thomas Wilkins (2007) is Music Director of the Omaha Symphony, Resident Conductor of the Detroit Symphony, and Principal Conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. He continues to make frequent appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony, the San Diego Symphony, and the New Jersey Symphony.

Carlton R. Woods (2014) is founder and Artistic Director of the Blue Water Chamber Orchestra. Before relocating to the Cleveland area, Mr. Woods held a joint position as Artistic Director/Conductor of the Midland (MI) Symphony Orchestra and Director of Orchestral Studies at Central Michigan University.

EMCEES

Hal France (2007) is a sought after opera conductor. Since his tenure as artistic director of Opera Omaha, he has been serving as exective director of Kaneko.

Mark Satola (Emcee since 2009) dazedly wandered into WCLV’s old studios in the Terminal Tower in downtown Cleveland toward the end of November, 1977, and wandered out, just as dazed but gainfully employed, as an announcer, producer, syndication duplicator, tape editor, and after-hours receptionist.